Month: May 2002

The Great Lakes suffer from all kinds of pollution, but among the most dangerous pollutants from industrial waste are mercury, cadmium, and zinc. Researchers at Ohio State University are perfecting a way to clean up those heavy metals…. using algae. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Bill Cohen explains:

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The Great Lakes suffer from all kinds of pollution, but among the most dangerous pollutants from industrial waste are mercury, cadmium, and zinc. Researchers at Ohio State University are perfecting a way to clean up those heavy metals – using algae. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Bill Cohen explains:

Picture using algae as a sponge. The one-cell
plants attach themselves to the polluting metals…you pull them out of the
water…squeeze out the metals in an acid solution….and re-use the algae
sponge 30 times. Researcher Richard Sayre has genetically altered the
algae to sop up more pollution than ever:

“We’ve improved their ability to sequester and bind these heavy metals by a factor of five.”

Sayre stresses – the algae itself won’t be put
into the lakes free-floating …and it won’t even be living.

“The metal-binding capacity is about three times greater when they’re dead than when they’re alive.”

The next step for Sayre…convincing a few cities to let him put this algae into pollution control equipment so he can prove to them it’s a cheap and effective way to stop industrial waste before it gets into waterways.

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State governments are beginning to look at a pollution source in your garage that usually goes unnoticed. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:

That old red gasoline can you use to fill your lawn mower could be polluting more than your car. New York is the first Great Lakes state to consider requiring manufacturers of the cans to come up with spill-proof cans that don’t allow gasoline to evaporate. California already has such a law. Richard Varenchik is with the California Air Resources Board.

“Frequently when you fill it up at the gas station, you spill some gas. When you pour gas into your lawn mower or chain saw, you spill some gas. Frequently you lose the cap to the can and so it sits in your garage and sort of evaporates gasoline into the air.”

Some estimates indicate we as a nation spill a tanker ship’s worth of gasoline each year. Newly designed cans eliminate most of the spill risk and evaporation, but they cost as much as six dollars more.

A recent federal report states that the EPA is not doing what it should to clean up polluted areas around the Great Lakes. And as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mark Brush reports – it’s not the first time the agency has been told about the problems:

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A recent federal report states that the EPA is not doing what it should to clean-up polluted areas around the Great Lakes, and as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mark Brush reports… it’s not the first time the agency has been told about the problems:

More than ten years ago the General Accounting Office said that the EPA should better coordinate it’s efforts to clean-up pollution hot-spots known as “Areas of Concern,” and three years ago the EPA’s Office of Inspector General also said that better coordination is needed.

So far, of these 26 polluted areas located within the U.S., none have been completely cleaned up. The most recent GAO report says that the slow progress is due increasing budget cuts, and the lack of a clearly defined department within the EPA that’s responsible for the program. Gary Gulezian is the director of the EPA’s Great Lakes National Program Office.

“I think that when the program was originally established people didn’t realize just how complicated, and complex, and expensive the problems would be to address. I think that we realize that now, and we realize it’s going to take new efforts and new coordination to get the job done.”

Gulezian
says that the EPA will lay out its roles
and responsibilities for the project in the coming months.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is considering expanding canals, channels, harbors, and locks to make way for larger ocean-going ships to enter the Great Lakes. But as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports, not everyone thinks that’s such a good idea:

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The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is considering expanding canals, channels, harbors and locks to make way for larger ocean-going ships to enter the Great Lakes, but as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports… not everyone thinks that’s such a good idea:

An Army Corps of Engineers’ draft report indicates the Corps wants to determine the feasibility of dredging and widening connecting channels to allow ships that are 250 feet longer and 30 feet wider than the biggest ship entering the Great Lakes today. Jennifer Nalbone is with Great Lakes United, a U.S. and Canadian consortium of environmental and other groups. She says there are lots of concerns. They include the disruption to the environment that the expansions would require, and concerns about larger foreign ships bringing more exotic invasive species into the Great Lakes.

“All of these environmental problems that we’re seeing in the basin could be amplified quite significantly if we allow larger foreign ships to gain access to the basin.”

Expansions at every connecting channel between the Great Lakes are being considered.

Anglers in Lake Superior are looking forward to the return of the coaster brook trout. The native trout was fished nearly to extinction in the early 1900s. New efforts to help the remaining populations rebound are attracting the interest of fisheries managers around the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Stephanie Hemphill has the story:

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Anglers in Lake Superior are looking forward to the return of the coaster brook trout. The native trout was fished nearly to extinction in the early 1900s. New efforts to help the remaining populations rebound are attracting the interest of fisheries managers around the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Stephanie Hemphill reports:

The French River tumbles into Lake Superior about 15 miles from Duluth. It’s a popular fishing spot, and people are catching rainbow trout. Rainbows are not native to Lake Superior. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources stocks them from the fish hatchery across the road.

People used to catch coaster brook trout here, but
there aren’t many of the fish around anymore.

“I haven’t seen one of those in years.”

“There aren’t any coaster brook trout. You’re dreaming.”

“‘You very seldom get them, but when you do they’re nice.’ Hemphill: ‘Why are they nice?’ ‘They’re so nice and clean, the colors are so beautiful.’ Hemphill: ‘Are they good eating?’ ‘Oh-h-h, there isn’t any better.'”

For a freshwater fish, coasters are colorful. Their sides are sprinkled with bright red dots. Their fins are edged with a bright white line. When they spawn, their bellies turn iridescent orange.

They hatch in rivers, and then swim downstream to grow up in the lake. They return to the river to spawn.

There used to be lots of coasters around Lake Superior, and in northern Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. They were a popular sport fish. In the 1850s, people came from all over to catch them. By the early 1900s coasters had practically disappeared.

Don Schreiner is the Department of Natural Resources fisheries supervisor in this part of Minnesota. He says coasters are fairly easy to catch. And that’s why they almost disappeared.

“There were no roads up here, people came in by boat, they came in by train. There’s accounts of people standing on the shore and on the riverbank and catching hundreds of brook trout.”

After the fishermen, lumberjacks came. They cut down the big trees that shaded the streams. They floated timber down the rivers, eroding the banks. Now these rivers are much more susceptible to flooding and sedimentation. The coaster brook trout need a rocky bottom, not a mud bottom, to spawn.

Then the state began stocking other fish here, so anglers would have something to catch. Pacific salmon, European brown trout. They compete with the few native brook trout that still survive in Lake Superior streams.

Some people want to try to restore the native brook trout. But others like to catch the big salmon, and the feisty rainbows. Don Schreiner says the DNR has to balance those competing demands.

“I think everybody cares about coaster brook trout as long as it doesn’t cost them anything personally. If I have to give up my favorite species in favor of a coaster brook trout, I might not be willing to do that. That’s the sort of thing we see.”

Angling restrictions imposed in the last few years have helped the trout. Schreiner says it’s possible they’ll bounce back, if people leave them alone, but improving the habitat is also key. That could take 50 years.

Some groups are trying to push things along a little faster.

The Red Cliff Tribal Fish Hatchery near Bayfield Wisconsin specializes in rearing coaster brook trout. Every year a million eggs are hatched here.

“Inside this building is where we keep our adult brood stock fish.”

Greg Fischer is the hatchery manager. He says they raise some fish for a year and a half before releasing them. Workers mark these fish to keep track of them in the wild.

“We have fin clipping parties where for several days we fin-clip each one of the fish, and when we’re stocking anywhere from 50 to 80,000 of these larger fish a year, that’s a lot of marking”

Some coasters from the hatchery might find a home at Whittlesey Creek near Ashland, Wisconsin. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is turning Whittlesey Creek into a refuge for coaster brook trout.

Biologist Lee Newman says it’s a promising spot for spawning. Springs seep up through the gravel bottom. That provides the eggs with a constant flow of oxygen. Newman wants to plant eggs and very young fry directly over the springs. That’s what they did on the Grand Portage Chippewa reservation in Minnesota. And Newman says it worked there.

“We’ve captured pairs of adults that were radio tagged and captured on their spawning beds, and two years later catch the exact same pair on the exact same spawning beds, indicating that they are returning precisely to their home locations.”

Newman says when the fish are very young they can imprint on the chemistry of the stream, and find their way back years later.

Biologists still have a lot of questions about how to help the coaster brook trout. But right now, at least, its future looks a little brighter. For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Stephanie Hemphill.

The Earth Liberation Front claimed responsibility for burning this house under construction near Bloomington, Indiana in 1999. Photo courtesy Herald-Times, by Jeremy Hogan.

The Earth Liberation Front is an underground group that attacks institutions it believes harm the environment. During the past five years, its members have caused approximately $40 million in damages. E.L.F’s most notorious acts of destruction include torching a luxury ski resort, destroying the executive offices of a forest-product company, and setting on fire university labs involved in genetically-modified crop research. For some time, environmentalists and others have debated whether this sort of activity was simply a public protest, or acts of terrorism. But since September 11th, that debate has escalated with increased efforts to label those involved in such attacks as terrorists. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Todd Melby has this report:
http://environmentreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2002/05/melby_052702.mp3

Transcript

The Earth Liberation Front is an underground group that attacks institutions it
believes harm the environment. During the past five years, its members have caused
approximately $40 million in damages. E.L.F.’s most notorious acts of destruction include torching a luxury ski resort, destroying the executive offices of a forest-product
company, and setting on fire university labs involved in genetically-modified crop research. For some time, environmentalists and others have debated whether this sort of activity was simply a public protest, or acts of terrorism. But since September 11th, that debate has escalated with increased efforts to label those involved in such attacks as terrorists. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Todd Melby has this report:

On a cold, January night in St. Paul, Minnesota, one or more members of the Earth Liberation Front set fire to a construction trailer parked on the University of Minnesota campus. Flames quickly spread to an adjacent building, causing $40,000 in damages.

(Construction site sounds)

But while the Crop Research Building burst into flames, the real target was the university’s proposed Microbial and Genomics building – a $20 million undertaking.

(Construction sounds go silent)

The attack wasn’t a surprise to Peggy Leppick. She’s a state representative, who chairs the Higher Education Committee in the Minnesota House of Representatives.

“A lot of the research that goes on at the university is fairly obscure and people don’t know about it, but when you build a building that is essentially a monument to genomics and genetic engineering, it becomes a bulls-eye.”

That’s why university officials are asking the Legislature for nearly $4 million to beef up security. They’ve also ratcheted up the rhetoric. University of Minnesota president Mark Yudolf has no qualms about using the word “terrorist” to describe E.L.F. members who’ve attacked his campus more than once.

“People who blow up facilities and buildings and who may try to avoid risking human life, but almost inevitably something can go wrong: that is my definition of a terrorist, yes.”

But attaching labels to actions doesn’t come so easily for others. There’s a fine distinction for some between terrorist and protesters.

“The definition of terrorist is a very political definition.”

Katherine Sikkink is a political science professor at the University of Minnesota.

“In this country, we have words for it. It’s called ‘crime.’ We don’t have to jump to the term ‘terrorism.’ When people destroy property it’s called ‘crime.’ We have police forces that are here to deal with crime and I think they should do it.”

Not surprisingly, Leslie James Pickering, a spokesman with the E.L.F. press office in Portland, Oregon, agrees with Sikkink’s characterization.

“If they were terrorists they would be engaging in violent terrorist actions. What they do is sabotage property. They’ve never harmed anybody. They never will harm anybody because it is against their code.”

That code, Pickering says, ensures that human life will be protected. When E.L.F. activists set fire to a building, they say it’s searched before flames engulf the facility.

“They are vandals. They are arsonists. They are engaging in illegal activity, there’s no question about that, but there is a difference between sabotage and terrorism.”

But that distinction may be lost in the rush to deal with terrorism, both foreign and domestic. The government appears on the verge of adding environmental groups such as E.L.F to its “War on Terrorism.”

A top F.B.I. official has called E.L.F. “the most active eco-terrorist” group in the United States. A Congressional Committee recently subpoenaed Leslie James Pickering’s predecessor in the E.L.F press office to testify. When committee members weren’t satisfied with his answers, they threatened him with contempt of Congress.

And now U.S. Congressman Gil Gutknecht, a Minnesota Republican, is calling for the death penalty if politically-motivated arsons or other actions result in a fatality. Gutknecht also wants the federal government to establish an “eco-terrorism” clearinghouse so law enforcement officials can do a better job of tracking environmental activists involved in illegal activity.

These proposals have drawn the ire of Chuck Samuelson, the executive director of the Minnesota Civil Liberties Union.

“September 11 has been a boon for people who are interested in making laws more strict, regulating society and limiting freedom.”

“The question that always comes up is about the privacy rights of people, how that information gets put in, who gets to change that information and who gets to use that information. If it’s secret and is not available to the public, so that you as a reporter couldn’t go see it or do an investigative piece on how they’re doing it, it’s got to scare you.”

Although Samuelson is quick to criticize the government’s proposed crackdown on E.L.F., he’s no defender of the group. He scoffs at the E.L.F. code, saying no matter their ‘no-harm-to-human-life’ intent, it’s only a matter of time before someone is killed.

Professor Sikkink also questions the group’s tactics. While some protest movements have historically engaged in property damage to score political points, she says it comes with a high price tag.

“So these tactics, you know, of destruction of government property are not unheard of, they’ve been around for a long time, but I do think they really run the risk of alienating the people you want to convince.”

Despite the increased pressure on E.L.F to halt the violence, Leslie James Pickering, the group’s spokesman, says he doesn’t expect its members to change its ways anytime soon. For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Todd Melby in Minneapolis.

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A Great Lakes watchdog group says visitors to the lakes can help reduce beach closings this summer. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:

Officials close beaches when bacteria levels get too high. That’s because E. coli bacteria can make swimmers sick. The Lake Michigan Federation is issuing what it calls a “Prescription for Healthy Beaches.” Cameron Davis heads up the group. He says the cause of the higher bacteria levels is due to human waste in sewage overflows or because of feces from animals such as sea gulls.

“So that’s really at the heart of it, human and animal waste. And, we have to address all these sources. And, really, we’re not going to be able to control mother nature. We’re going to have to control what we, as people, can control. And, that’s what the prescription is all about.”

That prescription calls for beach visitors to learn more about the health threats, not leaving food for wild animals to consume, cleaning up after pets, and joining efforts to lobby municipalities to eliminate sewage overflows in the Great Lakes.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, this is Lester Graham.

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Canadian leaders have introduced four proposals that would enable them to sign the Kyoto Protocol. As the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Karen Kelly reports, Canadians are trying to balance environmental concerns with the economic reality:

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Canadian leaders have introduced four proposals that would enable them to sign the Kyoto Protocol. As the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Karen Kelly reports, Canadians are trying to balance environmental concerns with the economic reality:

By signing the Kyoto Protocol, Canada will be expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by six percent below 1990 levels. It predicts the plan will slow Canadian economic growth by up to two percent over the next decade. And it’s attempting to spread that cost equally across the provinces. Environment minister David Anderson says this will achieve Canada’s goals without harming the existing economy.

“We can reduce harmful emissions, and we can encourage innovation, while at the same time sustaining economic growth.”

The environment minister plans to get feedback on the proposals at meetings being held across the country this summer. Officials hope to have a final agreement in place by late fall.

A new report shows more than thirteen million children in Great Lakes states are at risk of contracting asthma because of coal-fired power plants. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Jonathan Ahl has more:

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A new report shows more than thirteen million children in Great Lakes states are at risk of contracting asthma because of coal-fired power plants. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Jonathan Ahl has more:

The Public Interest Research Group report says children who live within thirty miles of an older coal fired power plant are more likely to contract pediatric asthma because of pollutants like mercury and chromium. PIRG Education Director Diane Brown says it would cost less than two dollars a month on the average utility bill to clean up the plants. But she says consumers shouldn’t have to foot the bill.

“We believe the plant owners should take responsibility for cleaning up the plants, and making sure that public health is not being jeopardized by the pollution they are creating.”

In addition to cleaning up coal fired plants, PIRG wants more focus on wind energy and other renewable fuel sources. PIRG also is combating a Bush administration proposal that would allow older power plants to expand without installing additional pollution controls. For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Jonathan Ahl.

The normal course of the year brings many changes in the natural world around us. Great Lakes Radio Consortium commentator Bob Hamma reflects on how attention to the rhythm of natural changes can open new perspectives for us:

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The normal course of the year brings many changes in the natural world around us. Great Lakes Radio Consortium commentator Bob Hamma reflects on how attention to the rhythm of natural changes can open new perspectives for us:

Almost ten years ago, when my family first moved into our house, there was a dying tree in the yard. Tall and slender, the tree was precariously close to the house, and on the
windward side. One day a stranger in overalls carrying a chain saw knocked at the door. He had noticed the tree and offered to cut it down. We agreed on a price and the tree was soon felled, leaving only the stump, about eighteen inches high.

When spring came, my daughter Sarah was born. That summer some potted impatiens bloomed on the stump. Then we put a squirrel feeder on it. As Sarah grew she would play on it, sometimes sitting, sometimes jumping off it. But as the years passed, she took no particular interest in it. I alone was watching.

As I cleaned up in the yard recently I noticed the stump was falling apart. When I laid my hand on it, it crumbled. A few light swings of the ax and it was gone. In April, Sarah
turned ten, full of energy, laughter, and promise. “Nothing gold can stay,” Robert Frost once wrote about the birch leaves in spring. But leaves have many colors in their brief lives and all are beautiful. The stump was pleasing as it made its way to dust, counting the years of Sarah’s childhood. And Sarah is always a new and surprising gift as she grows each day.

Some say change is good, some say not. But since there is no choice about it I choose to embrace change. If I resist, I will miss the new opportunities it offers and drain myself
fighting it. Though accepting it is sometimes painful, in the midst of the change I find glimpses of hope.

A few yards from where the stump once stood is a dogwood that I planted the year Sarah was born. This year it finally bloomed.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Bob Hamma.
Host Tag: Bob Hamma is an author and writer who lives in South Bend, Indiana. He comes to us by way of the Great Lakes Radio Consortium.